Starved Rock / Illinois Canyon
Hiking the Illinois Canyon Trail in Starved Rock State Park | Week 3 in Ottawa, IL | February 2025
Two years ago during our first stay in Ottawa, IL, we attempted to hike the Illinois Canyon Trail in Starved Rock State Park. We chose it because it was located on the East end of the park, right off IL-71 and closer to Ottawa, which we thought would make it an easy afternoon walk. It turned out that the only easy thing about it was that it was close to Ottawa — the trail was a total mud pit, and we weren’t able to finish it because we came to a stream that we couldn’t cross because it was too deep, there was nothing to aid our crossing, and it was too cold to be walking around with wet feet.
When I remembered this trail, I thought this year would be a much better year to attempt it because it was much colder, so the smaller streams throughout the park were frozen. And similarly to the River Trail going to La Salle Canyon, it was cold enough that the ground was also solid and not muddy. So we bundled up for another cold walk and made our way over to the state park for this hike.
Luckily I was right about the stream being frozen over, though we still had to watch where we walked because some parts weren’t as stable. We all made it across the stream and continued on the trail, only to find that there was another crossing not much farther ahead, and then another after that! None of the crossings have bridges or boulders to hop across, maybe just some fallen trees to aid in crossing, so this hike is definitely best done either when it’s frozen solid, or when it’s warm enough outside and you don’t mind getting your feet wet. The end of the trail wasn’t quite what we were expecting either — instead of having a big waterfall spilling over the canyon walls, there were a few spots away from the main stream where it was clear that there are smaller falls right after it rains, but the main stream continues back through a break in the walls and there was no way to safely continue back there (Curtis tried to get closer a couple times, but was turned away after hearing a giant ‘crack’ in the ice!). Our sources seem to indicate that this is the end of the trail, but maybe in the right season you can get further back. But unless there’s a giant waterfall hiding back there, we can’t say that this one is better than some of the other trails we’ve hiked here, like La Salle, Wildcat, St. Louis, and French Canyons. But having done all those already, it was still fun to be able to try a new hike and make it this far back this time.
Our third week in Ottawa brought some extreme cold to the area — with highs in the single digits, lows in the negatives, and wild chills making it feel much colder. We weren’t as active this week besides making sure Charlotte had enough time outside, then I would walk her through the hotel hallways and hang out in the lobby talking to the workers or other guests there. Fortunately this week was also Curtis’ busiest week here, so it’s not like we were sitting around inside with lots of free time together. We got through the week, and things finally started warming up again.
